How Long
by Corinto
Summary: After Patriot returns from Hammond camp, the one YA member not affected by the SHRA seeks him out to talk.
1. Chapter 1

**How Long**

After Patriot returns from boot camp, the one YA member not affected by the SHRA seeks him out to talk.

**Disclaimer: **The characters and concepts belong to Marvel comics.

**Author's Notes: **English is not my native language. That said, any criticism – including grammar and syntax – are welcome. Also, first timer here.

* * *

When she got to the doorbell, she didn't hesitate. She could freely debate the issue inside her head – she allowed herself that much, she wasn't delusional –, but no outward sign of could be shown, even alone. And of course she couldn't, because in her head, if she did show, she would prove Cassie right. So she didn't hesitate.

But she sure felt like hesitating.

After the door bell was rung – in a very straight-forward manner, if she did say so herself – a "coming!" came from inside. _Eli._

He opened the door for her, and she hoped her smile looked natural enough, because it felt anything but natural. _Press ahead, Kate._

"So… How was band-camp, Patriot?"

"Kate! Wow! How've you been?"

"Same old. You?"

"I'm Ok. Man, I missed New York! This leave is gonna be to short!"

"How long you've been in town?"

"I got back just a couple of days ago. Been spending some time with my grandparents, talking to some old friends. You just got back too, right?" She was surprised he knew – _maybe he called _– and thought it might have shown, with the way he was smirking at her. "From... what-is-it-called..."

"Interlochen…" and she remembered something "Wait, Billy and Teddy were around me when we talked about that. You were taking a beating from Kang–"

He cut her off promptly, with just the appropriate tone of indignation "Hey, I was not 'taking a beating', I was keeping him distracted till Billy could blow out the guy's forcefield. We needed that done or–"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, I was the one who blew out his whole armor. And came to your rescue. Again. _Not_ the first of many, I may add." She smiled falling back in the familiarity of the situation. Or so she tought.

"Fine." He said, shaking his head.

_Fine? That's it?_ He was just going to accept what she was saying? No retort, no 'hawkingbird' comment? Not knowing why, it made her fell awkward all of a sudden, thinking it was different from before. He was in some unspecific way different and it was enough to make her feel like she didn't belong.

He hadn't invited her in, they were still standing at the door, and that only made her feel worse about it. The summer heat added to her discomfort. She discreetly glanced down the street to her right, and maybe Eli noticed what she was thinking for he invited her in next.

"Do you wanna come in?"

She smiled again, and now she was sure he noticed it was fake. She didn't respond any further, just stepping inside, and taking the time to pull herself together again, composing a better mask. It wasn't really necessary.

She heard footsteps – and a fair amount of creaking – on the wooden floor to her right and looking up she saw what must have been the third tallest person she had ever seen. He was definitely taller that Eli, and also… also Captain America. He was old too, no way to hide it, but so muscular, he looked kinda like the Hulkling all buffed out. But he was not intimidating, not really, not with that pleasant smile on his lips and wrinkles around his eyes. She knew this certainly was also Captain America.

"Kate, this is my grandfather, Isaiah Bradley," and turning to is grandfather, Eli continued "Grandpa, this is Kate Bishop–" a short pause as if considering "–also, Hawkeye."

The big man reached out a hand which enveloped Kate's own with a resounding "Hi." It was a good thing she already knew everything Eli had said, because she didn't hear a word of it. She was in awe. She wouldn't be able to explain it later, why someone who could be described as a 'overgrown retard' should impress her so, but she'd still know it was real. Just as real as the ass-kicking she'd dish out to whoever described him that way

There was something about him, some benevolent… aura, or somesuch she couldn't quite name. So much power but kept in check by a smile and wrinkles. He seemed someone worthy of respect, but so humble he didn't expect it and was pleased when he got it. _He should always be pleased_, she thought. And when he spoke, he sounded just like… like…

"Like James Earl Jones." She spoke out loud in a way that let the men know she was far away.

Three things happened at once.

In her head, she sliped a Homerian 'Do'h!' _Man, there goes Foot in Mouth Disorder._

To her left, Eli was venting an already familiar "Kate!"

But in front of her, blurring out the other two, she heard a profound sound, a rolling _laughter_ that made her smile and quieted her friend. Smiling, the giant left them as Eli told him he was taking Kate to the porch out back.

Barely stepping outside, Kate turned to Eli. "You _should_ want to be just like him." She said smiling, then her face slackened, realizing how it came out and she was just about to fix it when a smile bloomed on Eli's lips. "Yeah, I know." She smiled back at him, all the while noticing how his smile was… sad, or something. No, not sad, but different, but she couldn't tell why. It reminded her – in a way – of when she gave him his star back, after Iron Lad had returned to the future and Captain America had had them turn in their gear. _It was awkward, _she suddenly realized, _he was awkward,_ _like at the door. Was it something I did? _

"He seems great, Eli." Just making sure.

"Yeah, he is." And the strange smile continued.

She sat on a rocking bench, he sat on a chair near by. They kept silent for a short while, and she decided to try again.

"So, Eli, How was Stamford?"

He kept quiet for a second before replying "It was Stamford."

"That bad, huh?"

He didn't respond beyond raising his hands in a gesture that might have been 'sure' or 'whatever'. Either way, it felt dismissive.

"Lots of drill sergeants, I guess." Kate continued despite the warnings already ringing in her head from Eli's behavior.

He nodded in a non-committal manner.

_This time_, she thought, _I'm fully aware of the foot I'm putting in my mouth. 'Queen of not knowing when to shut up' indeed._

"Is that why you are sad?"

"I'm not sad, Kate. I'm Ok." He answered with that strange smile. And that tone. Now she could distinguish it, and when she did, she felt herself wanting either his old temper or his old smiles. Right now, she felt either one would do.

_Maybe I should have called first,_ She thought, _maybe he's uncomfortable with me being in his home. If we'd gone out somewhere, maybe he wouldn't be like this. I Should have thought this trough._ But she thought about how much she missed them, all of them, and she knew Cassie and the others were with their families, Teddy with the Kaplans, Tommy was off to God knows where, and she'd just gotten in from Interlochen that morning, and she knew they'd already be back, and as weird as it sounded she missed fighting with him, they'd been gone so long…

"I thought this would be weird, you know?" she said before thinking it trough. A second later she was cringing. _Foot in Mouth Disorder strikes again. Worse than Tourette's!_

"What do you mean?" there it was again, that weird tone. She could almost see it, but not name it.

She smiled at him, but it felt forced, even to her. She looked at the field ahead of her, beyond the house, before answering. "Well, you guys up and left some four months ago, and I, well, I didn't. We kept in touch – well, mostly me and Cassie – but after everything we went trough, not having you guys around was just weird. It wasn't like I could talk about it with anyone of my family, or at school. All of a sudden some of the most important experiences of my life were… I don't know, not taboo, but proscribed. You know?"

He nodded. And that was it. _He's just so helpful._ And she felt some anger towards him for it.

She kept silent.

He was Eli.

She sighed and kept going.

"I guess I didn't know how it would be when you came back. You went to boot-camp, trained together and I stayed here–"

He cut her off. "You thought we wouldn't need you anymore."

_Too close._

"Ha! You guys will always need me! Without me you couldn't find your way out of a paper sack!" She said boisterously.

"That's about right."

She just looked at him, waiting for some snarky retort. He just kept that serious countenance. Once again she caved.

"Eli, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Don't try to change the subject, Kate."

"No, you stop trying to change the damned subject. You've been strange since the moment I got here. I let you keep dancing around it, but that's it."

"It's got you that curious, huh?" he smiled in a way that wasn't that nice. It wasn't just 'not-nice'. It was almost – but not quite – vicious. It was the worst till now.

_Curious?_ It made her angry, and in that subconscious way when you know you're right, that the anger is righteous, she decided to ride it.

"Curious?! Yeah, sure, Eli, I was just curious, God forbid I should be worried for someone I -

_(Care about)_

"- went trough so much together, who I trusted to lead me into battle, whom I allowed to risk my life cause I trusted him to do it! Yeah, Eli, I'M JUST CURIOUS!" She screamed the last part, not caring if his grandfather, neighbors or whoever heard her.

He kept quiet.

_Oh,__ fuck you, Eli._

She stood up and headed for the kitchen door.

"You're right. It was weird." He looked up at her. "In group activities we were always teamed together. We, the Young Avengers. The ones who were there. I guess they think we're a winning combination, or something.

"Yet, There were times, when we were discussing what we should do, I kept waiting to hear what you had to say before realizing you weren't there." He inhaled deeply. "There was one occasion when I actually asked 'what do you think, Hawkeye?' and everyone just kept looking at me in a strange way."

She leaned on the windowsill to the kitchen, looking at him with a smile on her lips. All of a sudden she felt like everything would be alright again. Maybe she'd call them all today to set up something for tomorrow like… Wait a minute. _He's blushing! _Oh, she couldn't actually see it; they were on the shaded side of the house, and with his dark complexion it was already hard to tell, but just from the way he was looking away – away from her – she just knew. It was definite. _I rock._

And even though – or because – she did, indeed, rock, she knew all good things must end. Or, as Kate so adequately put it: _Time to let the poor boy of the hook._

"Eli, it's too hot out here. And I'm feeling like ice-cream. Are there any good ice cream parlors around here?"

He looked at her. And he was smiling. An honest-to-God smile, with none of that strange vibe she'd been picking up. She didn't even notice she was smiling also.

"Sure there is. Just three blocks away."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way!"

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** I'd like to thank the people who read it and took the time to review this sorry thing.

That said, there's a sizable chunk of author's rant after the end. If anybody feels like it, go ahead.

* * *

The Jackson Ice Cream Parlor has been in activity since the 1950s, but only recently – as in the last 7 years – had it become more of a diner, under the thumb of one of the younger generation of the family. So currently it still served ice cream but mostly it looked like a diner and smelt like a diner but the name, that remained Jackson Ice Cream Parlor. 

It was still so by the actions of one grandma Jackson, the late owner's widow, who, by God, would not let that_boy_ who'd married her granddaughter change the name of a place that _still_ belonged her husband. After all, she was still the one who made the ice cream – butthe girl was _finally_ getting it, thank God - and let reckoning be upon the poor _boy_ if he ever attempts to change it. Yes, Grandma Jackson was a woman who spoke with inflections, and she mostly spoke to Faith Shabazz, Eli's grandmother.

After ordering their ice cream and sitting a little further away from the other clients, Eli was reminiscing about this. Normally thinking these minor factoids entertained him – he was actually very knowledgeable about his neighborhood's history, thanks to his grandma – but now was not a proper time for that. The girl who'd come along with him, Kate Bishop, had that look in her eyes, the one that told him he was about to be asked what was on his mind.

Again.

And she wouldn't believe him if he told her. No, right now she was looking for something earth-shaking, something that had thrown him into the depths of melancholy. So, very soon he'd hear a 'what are you thinking?' if he didn't do something about it. Truth be told, she didn't do 'the girly thing' very often, but today both of them were just a little off and it showed. Of course if she actually knew he thought of it as 'the girly thing', he'd be in deep, off or not.

A diversion was called for.

"Did I tell you about that thing in Texas with the president?"

She blinked. "Not really. The Hydra thing? With Dr. Pym?"

"That one. I wasn't actually there, but Teddy and Billy were, and they told me about it. On TV they made it seem great and easy, but in reality it was a mess. They grabbed any flyer – and I do mean any – handed them a gun telling them 'it was just like a video-game' – actual words here – and sent them off to the front. Just like that. They didn't look for the most experienced, they didn't separate reserves, just shipped the lot of them to Texas."

A long-suffering sigh.

"Billy was almost shot by a blond kid at some point. Another newbie was flying about and collided with Hulkling. The guy passed out and Teddy had to fly him down after righting himself. Can you believe this?"

"Huh. Doesn't seem like what we were taught by Cap."

The following silence was short, but Eli felt uncomfortable and looked at the counter as the attentive observer would see Kate's eyes narrowing for a split second.

"That's kind of it. Look at it this way: a bunch of beginners of all ages get thrown at a bad situation, with the potential to make it worse. But they had good intentions." He said in a intonation that led Kate to think it trough.

"No, doesn't remind me of Stamford at all…" she replied.

Eli just spreads his hands in a 'there you have it' gesture.

They were quiet for another moment, and Eli notices Kate looking over his shoulder and making a quick gesture for silence. The ice cream had arrived.

After they were alone again, Eli spoke up:

"Billy said he'd trade 15 of those newbies for me flying some kind of motorcycle and you in the back shooting. Said it'd clear the air and get a decent marksman. Also told me to tell you this."

She smiles at him. "So, he thought you'd look for me."

"Maybe not. Even if he did, not everything happens according to Billy's will. His spells have a 50-50 chance of nothing happening. And he is not pre-cog in any way. If he were, that mess with Kang could have turned out better."

"If time travel doesn't throw pre-cognition out the window." She reminded him, shaking her spoon at him.

Eli frowned. "I hate time travel." Kate mimed along.

"Everybody does. Or at least everybody says thy do. But don't be so ungrateful. We wouldn't be here if not for time travel. And I really wouldn't go for a life without the 'Young Avengers'."

He lowered his eyes to the table and smiled sadly: "Yeah, I know. No Iron Lad, no Patriot, no Hawk-Eye."

When he looked up, he was just too late. Kate already had that _annoying _thoughtful look in her eyes. Diversion!

"See, at first I thought this was one of your 'Iron Lad' funks, but this isn't like one of those.

"Is this about Cap?"

Too late for a diversion.

"Kate… leave it alone. What's an 'Iron Lad funk' anyway?"

"You, my friend, are stalling. It won't work. An Iron Lad funk is one of your funks where you are thinking that he was a better leader than you and he would have certainly done better. Newsflash: you're wrong. You are a good leader. You are a good friend. But you tend to funk. Cause, let's face it you're not cool enough to brood."

After she was done, she grinned.

Eli just pinched the base of his nose: "Kate…" _Why couldn't she leave well enough alone?_

"Ah-ah, no 'kate'ing yourself out of this one." Her grin disappeared, and a serious look replaced it. "Eli, there's something wrong. Something you aren't telling me and whatever it is, it's making us weird. Look at all of this; It's not us. Not even the Tommy stuff could get us like this. So, I say we're not leaving till we talk. That's final."

He looked at her and there was an air of finality about her indeed. And truth be told Eli was just too _tired_. He just breathed out a "Fine."

He saw her face crumpling. "Eli," she reached for his hand across the table. "what's wrong? Can I help?"

Eli just looked at their hands. Her hand was well manicured, but he could fell the calluses on her palm. Archer's calluses. He moved his hand and held her fingers, but didn't look up.

"I've been thinking a lot since I've come back from Stamford. Since I laid eyes on my grandfather again. It's about him, and Cap, and Iron Lad, us, Iron Man. Life, you know?"

She nodded.

"I took the plunge cause Iron Lad needed me. And because of my grandfather, also, of course. God, somebody had to show that he wasn't forgotten, just some guinea pig to come along to figure out the lethal dosage before distributing it to white people. The government did that to him. To all of them. For him. To get one blond haired, blue eyed, white guy who could wear the flag."

He stopped, looking at her long, slender, white fingers and then at her. "I wanted to hate him. For real, I did. For my grandfather. Steve Rogers was the reason my grandpa is the way he is. But I wound up taking a shot for him. Because in the end he was a great guy. He was the kind of guy who deserved that kind of loyalty. And I understood what my grandma kept trying to pound into my head – it was not his fault.

"He was the reason, yes, but he was not responsible. The scientists were responsible. The doctors. The Military who ran them. The Government who financed it. All for him. But he despised it. Yes, it's like that kind of guilt for the death of millions of natives, it wasn't personally your fault, but you kinda feel bad. You know?"

She nodded her head.

"See, and just like that, he wouldn't give back what he gained through my grandfather's sacrifice, but in his case, you could actually look into his eyes and tell it was real, the feeling was real. And I don't think it was disrespectful to my grandpa when I just let go. Let go of being angry at Cap. Cause, see, if grandpa had been trough all of that for naught, wouldn't it be worse?"

Kate nodded again. And squeezed his hand.

Eli let go of her hand and held his head, lost in thought, mapping out someway for this to make sense to Kate.

She taped the table. That got his attention. She looked over his shoulder and he heard a woman walking towards them. Kate was not on the defensive. The restroom was behind them.

"Kind of public for this conversation, huh?" He asked smiling, as she passed along.

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, also smiling but somewhat more vicious "we could have done this at your place, but nooooo. And I said we would not get up till we were done. And I can tell were not done. Wanna make a liar out of me?"

"You do that all by yourself, Kate." But the truth was he actually wanted to unwind. It actually felt good to talk to Kate about this stuff. _Ah, well, bite the bullet and go._ "But just wait a minute for her to go back to her table."

They dug into their ice cream till the girl passed back. Kate looked at him with a gleam in her eyes he couldn't read. Seemed happy, but that wasn't it. But the raised eyebrows, those were easy to read.

"So then Cap decides that wasn't the way to fight it. Punching it out won't fix the philosophical problem. He quits the war for the will of the people. I respect that. But I fell like… like I just quit. I register. I go to boot camp. I know I'm better than some of the guys they're 'graduating'. I'm not going to be modest about it. It's the truth. I think they'll keep us in while we're minor. Public repercussions, I think.

"And what about my grandfather? I work for the people who made him who he is. Not the persons _per se _– I think – but the people who are just like they were. I'll be run by a government agency – or UN agency, can't recall but I don't actually care, cause it's not important…"

He puts his spoon down and looks at Kate in a quiet desperation.

"What amI doing with my life?"

She looks at him then at the spoon that she'd been holding, forgotten in her hand since Eli began again. What was she supposed to say? She was in over her head.

"What would Iron Lad don in your place, huh?" She smiled wryly as she saw the sentence carried a little sting with it.

He looked at her, unoffended, shrugging his shoulders. "Don't know."

"Well," she responded, "I think that's a big question. Bigger than both of us, really. I say we call up the others and set up a lunch tomorrow, somewhere private for us to discuss this." She stops and as he looks at her, she seems just a little shy to Eli. Could be wrong. "Cause I've been asking myself the same thing."

They smile at each other and then turn back to eating their ice cream. Eli knew it wasn't an answer, but it was a way to one. And seemed to him that that was enough.

"Sorry I couldn't be more helpful." She says looking at the remainder of her ice cream and missing the surprised expression on Eli's face.

_She needs to hear it_. He can tell that much, and does so. "Are you kidding? I feel better already, just talking this out. Like you said, I don't need to know this now. Tomorrow we can all discuss this and figure out what our next step will be." He smiled at her again, felling better at doing it. He didn't need to force this one.

"Ok, then, boss-man let's set this up. I call Cassie and The Vision, you call Billy and Teddy. Do you know how to get to Tommy? I don't."

"No, no idea. Sarge had barely finished saying we were on leave, he bolted. Damn it!"

"That's ok, just give the job to Billy, let his magic figure it out. I'll see if The Vision has any way to reach him."

He looked at her "Vision's got a cell phone?"

"Yeah. Well, I mean, no, not really. He's got a cell phone number – secured – which he accesses as sound only. You know, internally."

"Vision's got a cell phone number, huh? I didn't know that."

"Well did you ever walk up to him and just asked him for it?"

Eli pictured that in his head. "No, not really."

"See, oh fearless leader, that's one of the reasons why you need me, I got you all on speed dial. All. - well, except Tommy."

He frowned, but it was fake and he knew she could tell. "Yeah, lucky me." Then he smiled again "And now that you said it like that, I just realized how much love and courage you need to be in a gay couple named Billy and Teddy."

As he looks at her smile seems to bloom, and she makes wide gestures of impatience. "I know! I've been sitting on a killer comeback for almost 7 months, just waiting for one of them to blurt out 'dude' or 'excellent'! They're driving me crazy!"

Eli grinned not sure if it was just the idea, or Kate's enthusiasm. Without realizing the awkwardness was gone.

It did not return that day.

The End.

* * *

**Author's Rant: **Kate is my favorite character. She is driven, facetious, and Mr. Heinberg wrote in a way that there was no way I couldn't like her. And then Mr. Brubaker did the great 'Winter Kills', with her and Elijah, arguing about her foot in mouth disorder. Great stuff. And so imagine my surprise when I looked over and cursory glance couldn't find her name [just to be clear, this was not the rant. You will know it when you see it. 

So I decided to write something about it. I looked over "battle field report". It said that YA were at Stamford. There was only one entry on an entirely baseline human. It an Israeli Mossad or assassin or somesuch, and said that the SHRA didn't apply [my hate for the thing knows no bounds. For instance: the Punisher was under exotic weapon user :-/. So Kate had no legal grounds to be taken to Stamford. Even if somebody could just up and decide to go, she is a minor, it isn't her choice.

So she stays. How does that make her feel? And Eli, my 2nd favorite YA, with his grandparents? So, I got an outline, 2 parts, 1st Kate, 2nd Eli [tough that kinda fell apart by the end, maybe a hook from Tommy's last scene in YA v1 #12 – I started outlining that.

Then Fallen Son comes along.

But you said… Stamford… What!? It makes more sense to me – as can be seen above – But Fallen Son is horrible, YA/WWH is cancelled [Not sure if it's a good or a bad thing and there's some reference that The Vision is registered and working for SHIELD [in wiki about Mighty v1 #01 – didn't look it up.

Then Real Life interferes, kick in the teeth. And I quit my short career as fanfic writer.

But I decided to come back and end this. And here it is. So now my career is not short. It's merely irregular.

Thanks for your patience.


End file.
